The Night We Didn't Die

The backyard pool shimmered like something out of a dream, which was exactly what Maya needed after her dad dropped the divorce bombshell over dinner. Her best friend Leo had already texted her seventeen times about his house party, but Maya's feet carried her somewhere else entirely—toward the old Jefferson place, abandoned since the elderly owner died last winter.

The fence was easy hop. The **pool** in their backyard had gone swamp-green, perfect for hiding in when your life was falling apart. Maya stripped to her sports bra and shorts, sliding into water that smelled like secrets and too much rain.

"You're gonna turn into a **zombie** if you stay in there much longer."

Maya surfaced. Leo stood at the pool's edge, phone flashlight cutting through darkness like a lightsaber.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, treading water.

"Looking for you. Everyone's at my place **running** beer pong tournaments and you're ghosting. Again." He sat on the edge, dangling his feet. "Talk to me, Maya."

She swam to the side and rested her chin on her arms. "My parents are splitting."

Leo's flashlight dipped. "Oh. That's... that sucks, Maya. Like, really sucks."

"Yeah, well." She watched something small and orange dart through the murky water. "Is that... a **goldfish**?"

"What? No way." Leo leaned closer. "That's actually insane."

"Survived the whole time alone." Maya smiled despite herself. "Kinda badass, honestly."

Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out a weird bumpy orange thing from the party snacks. "I have **papaya**. My mom's obsessed with 'exotic' foods now. It's actually not terrible."

They sat there sharing fruit on the edge of a stranger's pool at midnight, watching the lone goldfish navigate its abandoned kingdom, and Maya realized this was exactly what growing up felt like—messy, unexpected, and somehow okay anyway.